From: Alan Olsen <alano@teleport.com>
Date: Thu, 18 Apr 1996 19:05:27 +0800
To: Patrick May <cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re: [Explanation] Re: "STOP SENDING ME THIS SHIT"
Message-ID: <2.2.32.19960418070811.00a81010@mail.teleport.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


At 10:37 PM 4/17/96 -0700, Patrick May wrote:

>     I run a small mailing list that has been subject to problems
>similar to the recent spate of "unscrives".  Apparently there is a
>list of mailing lists circulating the warez boards along with scripts
>for spoofing subscription requests.  Over the past few months my list
>has periodically received batches of bogus subscriptions for accounts
>ranging from Fidonet sysops to Al Gore to random AOL users.  Email
>from other mailing list admins indicates that these same accounts,
>perhaps two hundred in all, were subscribed to several hundred lists.

Teleport has been having the same problems.  They have a modification to
majordomo that sends a confirm message to the intended
victim^H^H^H^H^H^Hrecipient asking if he/she/it really wanted to subscribe
and request that they send back a passphrase to confirm the subscription.

This has two benificial effects...  It keeps the unwilling from being
subscribed to lists that they do not want.  It also keeps the incredibly
clueless from subscribing in the first place since they can never figure how
to get the confirm message back to majordomo without botching it.

I will find from the "powers that be" at teleport if the patch is publically
released for use.
---
Alan Olsen -- alano@teleport.com -- Contract Web Design & Instruction
        `finger -l alano@teleport.com` for PGP 2.6.2 key 
                http://www.teleport.com/~alano/ 
  "We had to destroy the Internet in order to save it." - Sen. Exon